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STUDENTS and SERVICE FAQS Below is a list of frequently asked questions about service through the Center for Service and Social Action, including questions about:
SERVICE ENROLLMENT/REGISTRATION FAQS How do I sign up for service? Typically, participating in service through the Center for Service and Social Action is a three-step process which involves:
You can find further details at the "Getting Started" section of our website. Can I set up my own service opportunity? If you are participating in service as part of a service learning course and wish to set up a service activity at a site of your own choosing, you will need to discuss the possibility of arranging for a Self-Placement with your instructor. STUDENTS ASSUME ALL RISKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR SELF-PLACEMENT SERVICE ACTIVITIES. If your service is either service learning or voluntary service and you wish to have our office to track your hours for you, your Self-Placement service activity must meet the following requirements:
How do I get to my service site? The Center for Service and Social Action provides transportation to and from most of our service sites; expected departure and return times will be listed for those activities. Where do I meet the van to take me to my service site? You should meet your driver at the Recreation desk in the Lombardo Student Center (by the pool), unless notified otherwise. In certain cases, other types of transportation may be arranged or a different meeting point may be assigned. What should I do if the van isn’t at the assigned pick up spot? First of all, please verify that you have the correct departure time! If you are late, the van may have already departed. If you are a few minutes early, the van may not have returned from an earlier trip. You can always call our office at 216.397.4698 or 216.397.1662 to check if there’s a problem with the vehicle or driver. If a service has been cancelled for any reason, we make every effort to contact all participants by email or phone to let them know. Can I drive myself to a service site or do I have to take the CSSA van? The Center for Service and Social Action prefers that you take advantage of transportation when it is provided, because the drive to and from a service site can often provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your service experience and share it with the other participants. However, you may certainly drive yourself to any service site for which you are registered for service. (You may not, of course, just "show up" at a service site.) Please remember that you will still need to sign in/out of the Service Hour Record Sheets at your service site. Know also that when you drive yourself, you accept all responsibility for any risks involved in traveling to and from the activity. In addition, if you plan to carpool or drive other members of your class--even in your own vehicle--you MUST register as a driver with the Center for Service and Social Action. Proof of insurance and other information will be required. MISSING SERVICE DUE TO CANCELLATIONS, ILLNESS, ETC. What if my service site closes or is cancelled? The Center for Service and Social Action tries to maintain accurate information regarding service schedules and special events, holidays, breaks, and other calendar events which might result in a cancellation of service. You will be notified of the days of service for your activity when you register for it. However, sometimes service sites close because of weather conditions, equipment failures, illness, etc. If a service site cancels, we will make every attempt to notify you of the cancellation as soon as possible by email or phone (which is why it is important for you to provide us with accurate contact information when you enroll as a service participant with our office). We will also log these events as "site closed" on your service hour record. What should I do if I get sick or need to miss weekly service? First of all, please remember that the agencies and schools where you are placed for service rely on you--and they may need to change activities or make other adjustments if you are not there. The more notice you can give of an absence, the better! Should you need to miss service for any reason, you should contact the Center for Community Service at 216.397.4698 or 216.397.1662. If you find out before or after office hours, please leave a voice mail message. We will contact your service site supervisor for you to make them aware that you are unable to attend. If you give our office at least 24 hours advance notice of your absence, we will include the reason for your absence in your service hour record. Can I stop going to a weekly service if I get too busy? While illness or other unforeseen circumstances may cause you to miss a weekly session, service participants are expected to fulfill their service commitments. Please remember that our Community Partners rely on you to attend your placement consistently; they have planned their weekly activities based on the assistance you provide. In addition, the people with whom you will serve look forward to your visits and rely on you being available to help them. If you are a student participant, "studying for an exam," "writing a paper," or "feeling tired from being up late" are considered time management issues that you need to resolve. Depending on your professor’s requirements, not fulfilling your service commitment could negatively affect your grade. Service participants experiencing a chronic or emergency medical condition, family emergency, or other serious issue requiring a termination of service should inform the Center for Service and Social Action at 216.397. 1662 as soon as possible. What if I can’t attend a one-time project I signed up for? If you know in advance that you cannot attend a project that you registered for earlier in the semester, please contact the Center for Service and Social Action at 216.397.1662 as soon as possible. Often we have a waiting list of other participants who would like to do the project and we can assign your spot to someone else. You may be able to sign up for another project, but please keep in mind that service opportunities are limited and on a "first-come, first-served" basis, so it is not always possible to include you in another project. Should you need to miss your service for any reason, you should contact the Center for Community Service at 216.397.4698 or 216.397.1662. If you find out before or after office hours, please leave a voice mail message. We will contact your service site supervisor for you to make them aware that you are unable to attend. If you give our office at least 24 hours advance notice of your absence, we will include the reason for your absence in your service hour record. What if something goes wrong at the service site? Before adding a site to our Community Partners list, each site undergoes an assessment process. Key elements of this assessment include a review of their procedures for supervising volunteers and a safety assessment. While we make every effort to monitor the safety factors of our Community Partners, sometimes there are incidents or accidents. Participant safety is an important element of any service experience. The Center for Service and Social Action has a Critical Incident Report procedure; we take any concerns related to service participant safety extremely seriously. If you have any concerns about your safety, or if another service participant reports an incident to you, you MUST contact both the site supervisor and Center for Service and Social Action staff as soon as possible. If our office has provided transportation, you may speak with your driver; if not, please contact our office at 216.397.1662 at your first opportunity. How are my hours tracked? If you have registered for a service activity sponsored by our office, we will record your service hours. However, in order for us to do that, you MUST sign in and out of the Center for Service and Social Action Service Hour Tracking Sheet at the agency where you are performing service every time you are there. It is your responsibility to make sure you sign in and out; if you forget to sign, we have no other way of verifying that you attended the service. The agency will then fax the sheet to us and we will record your hours in our database. If you are a student and have set up your own service opportunity but you still want our office to track your hours for you, you must take a Service Hour Tracking Sheet with you to your placement site every time you participate in service. You will need to sign in/out on the sheet, and have the site supervisor sign off on your hours. Every other week, you need to bring the signed sheet to our office so that we can enter your service hours. These sheets will NOT be accepted after the final week of service, so make sure to bring them to us in a timely fashion. Can I check my service hours? Yes. You can check your hours online by accessing the Center’s website and logging in with your user name and password. You can check your service hours by semester or by total, and you can print out a report log of your service dates, service sites/activities, and hours. If your most current hours are missing, we may have not received confirmation from the service site; hours will be updated when the information is received. Can my professor check my hours? Yes. Faculty also have the capability of checking the service hour record of all students registered for their course during the semester. This record includes a log of service dates, service sites/activities, other courses to which the hours are being attributed, and service hours. |